Leaders should be a Coach First and a Manager Second

If a leader is ‘great’ they will have high emotional intelligence, which in turn enables them to be capable of being empathetic, curious, and humble in all their interactions.

One Lens View

We know that most companies and organisations have always measured the performance of their employees through one lens: results. In the new world of work, consideration of the younger generation and work-dynamics, this level of measurement misses an important factor in employee development.

It is accurate to say that employees are becoming more selective of where they decide to work, and in turn they measure the “performance” of their company and managers. Individuals are most focused on their overall experience, and if they face burnout from pressure, they often lose motivation to stay.

Coach First

When a leader is a coach first, they will develop deeper relationships with their staff. This means that the leader prioritises the whole person, inside and outside of work. This in turn has a positive impact on the performance and retention of staff as employees are more likely to be seen, heard, and understood. This approach has a direct impact on the retention of staff.

If you are an HR or L&D professional, one of the best things you can do to immediately impact the growth, development, and performance of your teams is help your leaders and managers to have more consistent coaching conversations.

Solution Focused

A workable solution is to provide training and development programs at the all levels of leadership and management to ensure these individuals have the opportunity to be great coaches. Effective coaching conversations bring a strong measure of empathy and helps people identify the root cause of their challenges, get clear on their goals, and move forward faster. They also open the possibility to discuss topics that, while they may not seem directly related to work, will ultimately impact an employee’s capacity and motivation to perform.

It is recommended to start by setting up weekly or bi-weekly 1:1 meetings with direct reports, and create space in the agenda for non-work related conversations to get to know them as a whole person.

Furthermore, as leaders, take it a step further and create quarterly “let’s talk” sessions without an agenda and specifically devoted to discussing whatever is on the employee’s mind.

Coaching 101

At Blazing Moon, we offer a 2-day accredited short skills programme aimed at managers who wish to facilitate change and accelerate performance at an operational level as well as develop employees to higher positions. Coaching is the easiest way to make collaboration happen because it focuses on finding solutions.

While identifying problems can be complicated and difficult, success lies in solutions and hence any process which improves the ability to find solutions will deservedly attract attention.

Find out more about Coaching in Today's World!

https://www.blazingmoon.co.za/article-view/coaching-in-todays-world